February 13, 2025

As you may know from a special notice sent on Tuesday, the Central Atlantic Conference is a named plaintiff in a lawsuit regarding the Reversal of the Department of Homeland Security’s “Sensitive Locations” Policy. We are part of twenty-seven Jewish and Christian denominational bodies that are filing this action through the Georgetown Center for Faith and Justice and the Georgetown Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection. The suit claims under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”) that subjecting our congregations to Immigration Customs and Enforcement (“ICE”) enforcement actions without judicial warrants interferes and places a burden on both our religious activities and our ability to fulfill our call to welcome and serve immigrant communities You can read the entirety of the press release here.

In order to be a plaintiff in this lawsuit, we needed testimonial statements from several pastors of our congregations.  In this space I would like to publicly thank Kathy Dwyer of Rock Spring Congregational Church in Arlington VA, Kristen McBrayer of Emmaus UCC in Vienna VA, Seth Kaper-Dale of the Reformed Church of Highland Park in Highland Park NJ, Derrick Hodge of the Peoples Church of Dover DE, Marty Kuchma of St Paul’s UCC in Westminster MD, and Amanda Hendler-Voss of the First Congregational Church of Washington DC. If you have an opportunity to do so, please thank these pastors and their congregations for their witness. We would not have been able to do this without them. I also want to thank here our CAC Board of Directors for their prophetic leadership and support of our participation in this lawsuit.

Our reasoning for being part of this litigation is both simple and biblical. While there are numerous commands issued by God, especially to the people of Israel, I believe they all boil down to those Jesus stated twice in the gospels. Jesus declared that the greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Mt 22:37 NRSVUE)” and “that the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Mt. 22:39 NRSVUE).”  According to Jesus, all the Law and Prophets stem from these commandments.  As followers of Jesus, all that we do, whether inside our sanctuaries or in the public square, should stem from these commandments as well. Core values of the Central Atlantic Conference include “extravagant and unconditional love”, “radical hospitality, inclusion and diversity” and “prophetic witness and direct action.” By participating in this litigation, I believe that our Conference is bearing witness both to these core values and the ‘new’ command Jesus issued to his disciples at the Last Supper: which is “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. (John: 13:34-35).”

We will certainly apprise you of any developments and updates as this action proceeds. In addition, I am seeking and discerning ways we can bear witness as the Conference in these times and would love to hear from you any ideas that you might have. Yet here is something you can do individually, which is to sign and share this petition which will be sent to the White House, DHS, and every member of Congress. This petition has already been signed by over 1,000 people on the day the litigation was filed. 

Thank you Central Atlantic Conference, for being a witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ in these challenging times. And please remember this advice from the apostle Paul from his letter to the Church in Philippi (Philippians 4:4-7 NRSVUE):

“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Blessings and Shalom,